HOME

GC HOLDERS

YEO-THOMAS

Introduction

This page contains the details of agents who operated behind enemy lines in various countries and were awarded the George Cross for their bravery. In the vast majority of cases, the George Cross was awarded posthumously.

Arthur Banks

Arthur Banks was born on 6 October 1923 in Llandulas (North Wales), the son of Charles Chaplin and Harriet Margaret Banks. At the time of the award of his posthumous George Cross, Arthur Banks was a Sergeant in 112 Squadron RAF (VR).

As in the case of Flight Sergeant Woodbridge, the events surrounding the death of this very gallant airman only emerged after a post-WWII investigation and subsequent war crimes trial.

On 29 August 1944, Sergeant Banks was the pilot in a Mustang aircraft that took part in an armed reconnaissance of the Ravenna and Ferrara areas. Due to suffering hits from anti-aircraft fire, Sergeant Banks was forced to land his aircraft. He decided, after the aircraft had been destroyed, to try and reach the Allied lines.

He made contact with a group of partisans, among whom he became an outstanding figure for his advice and encouragement in action against the Germans. Early in December 1944, a crossing by boat into Allied territory was planned, but the whole party was captured by German and Italian Black Brigade pro-Axis militia.

After repeatedly stating just his name, rank and number, Sergeant Banks was badly beaten and repeatedly whipped on his back with ox thongs. This treatment continued for 6 days, with Sergeant Banks continuing to refuse to divulge any information apart from his name, rank and number.

After completely failing to break Sergeant Banks, the German forces handed the badly tortured remains over to the Black Brigade forces at Artiano ne Polisine Barracks. After again failing to obtain any information from Sergeant Banks, his naked, battered body was doused in petrol and set on fire. Believing Sergeant Banks to be dead, his body was dumped into the River Po.

Despite his torture and what must have been agonising pain, Sergeant Banks managed to some how swim to the bank of the River. Unfortunately, it was the barracks' side of the River and he was almost immediately recaptured by the Black Brigade militia. Sergeant Banks was dragged back to the Barracks.

On 20 December 1944, Sergeant Banks was killed by a shot in the back of his head. He was aged 22 years' old. Banks' remains were initially dumped into a dung heap. After the war, Sergeant Banks was buried in Argenta Gap War Cemetery, grave reference III.A.7

The citation for the posthumous award of the George Cross to Sergeant Banks was published in the London Gazette on 5 November 1946:

On 2th August, 1944, this airman took part in an armed reconnaissance of the Ravenna and Ferrara areas. During the sortie, his. aircraft wasdamaged by anti-aircraft- fire and he was compelled to make a forced landing.

After the aircraft had been destroyed, Sergeant Banks decided to try toreach the Allied lines. He made contact with agroup of Italian partisans, amongst whom, during the following months, he became an outstandingfigure, advising and encouraging them in actionagainst the enemy. Early in December, 1944, an attempt at crossing into allied territory by boatwas planned. Sergeant Banks and a number ofpartisans assembled at the allotted place, but thewhole party was surrounded and captured.

Sergeant Banks was handed over to the German commander of the district, who presided at hisinterrogation. During the questioning, SergeantBanks was cruelly tortured. At one stage, he succeeded in getting hold of a light machine gun, with which he might have killed most of hiscaptors, had not one of the partisans, fearing more severe torture, intervened and pinned his arms to his sides. Sergeant Banks was badly knocked about before he was taken to another prison.

On 8th December, 1944, Sergeant Banks was taken, with a number of partisans, to a prison at Adria.He remained there until 19th December, 1944, whenhe was handed over to the commander of a detachmentof the "Black Brigade". He was then transferred to another prison at Ariano Polesine.Here, in the presence of Italian Fascists, he wasstripped of his clothing and again tortured. Sergeant Banks was eventually bound and thrown into the River Po. Despite his wounds, even atthis stage, he succeeded in reaching the river bank.The Fascists then took him back to the prison,where he was shot through the head.

At the timeof his capture, Sergeant Banks was endeavouringto return to' the Allied lines, so that he mightarrange for further supplies to the partizans. He endured much suffering with stoicism, withholdinginformation which would have been of vital interestto the enemy. His courage and endurance were such that they impressed even his captors. SergeantBanks conduct was, at all times, in keepingwith the highest traditions of the Service, even inthe face of most brutal and inhuman treatment.

Noor Inayat-Khan

Noor Inayat-Khan was born on 1 January 1914, in Moscow. She became a Assistant Section Officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, seconded to the Women's Transport Service.

Inayat-Khan was the first women radio operator to be infiltrated into enemy occupied France, on 16 June 1943. During the weeks immediately following her arrival, the Gestapo made mass arrests in the Paris Resistance Groups to which she had been detailed, but although given the opportunity to return to England, she refused to abandon what had become the principal and most dangerous post in France. She was a wireless operator and did not wish to leave her French comrades without communications and she hoped also to rebuild her group.

The Gestapo did their utmost to catch her and so break the last remaining link with London. After three and a half months she was betrayed, taken to Gestapo Headquarters in the Avenue Foch and asked to co-operate. She refused to give them information of any kind and was imprisoned in the Gestapo HQ, remaining there for several weeks, and making two unsuccessful attempts to escape during that time. She was asked to sign a declaration that she would make no further attempts but refused, so was sent to Germany for 'safe custody'.

She was imprisoned at Karlsruhe in November 1943 and later at Pforsheim, where her cell was apart from the main prison as she was considered a particularly dangerous and unco-operative prisoner. She still refused to give any information about either her work or comrades.

On 12 September 1944 Noor (together with Yolande Beekman, Eliane Plewman and Madeleine Damerment) were taken to Dachau Concentration Camp and shot on the following day.

Noor Inayat Khan's George Cross was published in the London Gazette on 5 April 1949:

Assistant Section OfficerINAYAT-KHAN was the first woman operator to be infiltrated into enemy occupied France, and was landed by Lysander aircraft on 16th June, 1943. During the weeks immediately following her arrival, the Gestapo made mass arrests in the Paris Resistance groups to which she had been detailed. She refused however to abandon what had become the principal and most dangerous post in France, although given the opportunity to return to England, because she did not wish to leave her French comrades without communications and she hoped also to rebuild her group. She remained at her post therefore and did the excellent work which earned her a posthumous Mention in Despatches.

The Gestapo had a full description of her, but knew only her code name "Madeleine". They deployed considerable forces in their effort to catch her and so break the last remaining link with London. After 3 months she was betrayed to the Gestapo and taken to their H.Q. in the Avenue Foch. The Gestapo had found her codes and messages and were now in a position to work back to London. They asked her to co-operate, but she refused and gave them no information of any kind. She was imprisoned in one of the cells on the 5th floor of the Gestapo H.Q. and remained there for several weeks during which time she made two unsuccessful attempts at escape. She was asked to sign a declaration that she would make no further attempts but she refused and the Chief of the Gestapo obtained permission from Berlin to send her to Germany for "safe custody". She was the first agent to be sent to Germany.

Assistant Section Officer INAYAT-KHAN was sent to Karlsruhe in November; 1943, and then to Pforsheim where her cell was apart from the main prison. She was considered to be a particularly dangerous and unco-operative prisoner. The Director of the prison has also been interrogated and has confirmed that Assistant Section Officer INAYAT-KHAN, when interrogated by the Karlsruhe Gestapo, refused to give any information whatsoever, either as to her work or her colleagues

She was taken with three others to Dachau Camp on the 12th September, 1944. On arrival, she was taken to the crematorium and shot. Assistant Section Officer INAYAT-KHAN displayed the most conspicuous courage, both moral and physical over a period of more than 12 months.

She is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial on Panel Number 243.

Arthur Frederick Crane Nicholls

Arthur Frederick Crane Nicholls was born on 8 February 1911 the son of Joseph Crane and Josephine Crane Nicholls. At the time of the events which ended with the posthumous award of the George Cross, Nicholls was a Brigadier in the Coldstream Guards, attached to the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

In October 1943, Brigadier Nicholls was parachuted into Albania to assist with resistance activities against the German forces then occupying Albania. After the German forces attacked the resistance group in December 1943, Brigadier Nicholls was forced into the Albanian mountains. During the harse winter conditions, Brigadier Nicholls developed frost-bite which became so severe in both his legs that he ordered that both his legs be amputated. This operation was performed without any anaesthetic and by a medically unqualified man. After the operation, Brigadier Nicholls was dragged by two other members of his group as he wished to impart essential information to the Allied authorities.

However, the weather conditions and Brigadier Nicholls medical condition worsen. On 11 February 1944 Brigadier Nicholls died aged 33 years' old. Brigadier Nicholls is buried within Tirana Park Memorial Cemetery, Albania.

Brigadier Nicholls' George Cross award was published in the London Gazette on 26 February 1946:

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the posthumous award of the GEORGE GROSS, in recognition of most conspicuous gallantry in carryingout hazardous work in a very brave manner, to:

Major (temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) (acting Brigadier) Arthur Frederick Crane NICHOLLS (62269), Coldstream Guards (London).

David Russell

David Russell was born on 30 March 1911 in Ayrshire (Scotland), the son of James and Jessie Russell. At the time of the events leading to his posthumous George Cross award, David Russell was a Lance-Corporal in the 22nd (Motorised) Battalion, New Zealand Infantry.

Like so many other escaped prisoners-of-war, Lance-Corporal Russell had obtained civilian clothes and was living with an Italian peasant, Giuseppe Vettorello. He was well-known and liked by the people of the locality. According to Giuseppe Vettorello, Lance-Corporal Russell maintained contact with a number of other ex-prisoners-of-war, visiting them regularly by bicycle.

On 22 February 1945, Lance-Corporal Russell was arrested by a patrol of Italian Fascist troops near the house of Giuseppe Vettorello. Giuseppe Vettorello was also arrested on suspicion of having harboured Lance-Corporal Russell. Their captors were members of a mixed German-Italian police regiment. Both prisoners were taken to the Headquarters of Oberleutnant Haupt at Ponte di Piave.

Here an attempt was made to force Lance-Corporal Russell to betray Giuseppe Vettorello, but he refused to do so, denying that he had ever seen him before. According to an Italian soldier who was present, Lance-Corporal Russell was beaten up by Haupt, but maintained his silence. Thanks to Lance-Corporal Russell's loyalty, Giuseppe Vettorello was released.

The Germans were evidently convinced that Lance-Corporal Russell had been in contact with other ex-POWs and Partisans, and were determined that he should disclose their whereabouts. He was chained to a wall in a stable, and told that, unless he gave the required information within three days, he would be shot. Again, on the testimony of two Italians who were present, Lance-Corporal Russell was beaten up, but he resolutely refused to speak.

A civilian who took him food tried to persuade him to save his life, but he replied, "Let them shoot me". Haupt's interpreter, an Italian says: "The behaviour of the Englishman was splendid, and it won the admiration of Haupt himself".

On the third day, 28 February 1945, Lance-Corporal Russell was shot. He was 34 years' old. Lance-Corporal Russell's is now buried in Udine War Cemetery, Italy in grave reference IV.D.2.

Lance-Corporal Russell's award of the George Cross was published in the London Gazette on Christmas Eve 1948.

Odette Marie Céline Sansom

Mrs. Odette Marie Céline Sansom (later Churchill, then Hallowes) was born on 28 April 1912.

Mrs. Sansom was infiltrated into enemy occupied France in October 1942 and worked with great courage and distinction until April 1943 when she and her commanding officer were arrested. On their way to Fresnes Prison they managed to talk together and agreed that for their mutual protection they should maintain that they were married. She stuck to this story and even succeeded in convincing her captors, in spite of considerable contrary evidence and through at least 14 interrogations. She also drew Gestapo attention from her commanding officer (Captain Peter Churchill) to herself, saying that he had only come to France on her insistence and even agreed that it should be herself and hot her commanding officer who should be shot.

The Gestapo were most determined to discover the location of a wireless operator and another British Officer whose lives were of the greatest value to the Resistance organisation. Mrs. Sansom was the only person who had this information but although she was subjected to every sort of indignity and cruelty, she never gave anything away and by her bravery and determination not only saved the lives of the two officers but also enabled them to carry on their most valuable work.

She was in solitary confinement for 2 years and whilst in Ravensbrück Concentration Camp was kept in complete darkness for 3 months and 11 days, as a punishment for the Allied landings in the south of France.

Ultimately, she was taken by the German Camp Commandant to the nearest American unit in May 1945.

Odette returned to England in 1945, although her health had been badly affected by her period of imprisonment and torture. A medical report produced, in 1945, by the doctor treating her stated that "... she was in a state of high nervous tension due to maltreatment received in German captivity. Some nails on her toes were missing; there was on her back a rounded scar of about half an inch diameter, the result of a burn deliberately inflicted in the concentration camp".

Odette's medals in the Imperial War Museum (Stephen Stratford 2005).

Her award of the George Cross was published in the London Gazette on 20 August 1946:

Mrs. Sansom was infiltrated into enemy occupied France and worked with great courage and distinction until April, 1943,when she was arrested with her Commanding Officer. Between Marseilles and Paris on the way to the prison at Fresnes, she succeeded in speaking to her Commanding Officer and for mutual protection they agreed to maintain that they were married.She adhered to this story and even succeeded in convincing her captors in spite of considerable contrary evidence and through at least fourteen interrogations. She also drew Gestapo attention from herCommanding Officer on to herself sayingthat he had only come to France on herinsistence. She took full responsibility andagreed that it should be herself and not her Commanding Officer who should be shot.

By this action she caused the Gestapo tocease paying attention to her CommandingOfficer after only two interrogations. Inaddition the Gestapo were most determined to discovier the whereabouts of awireless operator and of another Britishofficer whose lives were of the greatest value to the Resistance Organisation. Mrs. Sansom was the only person who knew oftheir whereabouts. The Gestapo torturedher most brutally to try to make her giveaway this information. They seared herback with a red hot iron and, when, thatfailed, they pulled out all her toe-nails.

Mrs. Sansom, however, continually refused to speak and by her bravery and determination,she not only saved the lives ofthe two officers but also enabled them tocarry on their most valuable work.During the period of over two years inwhich she was in enemy hands, she displayed courage and endurance.

Before her capture, Odette had met and fallen in love with another SOE man: Captain Peter Churchill. They were captured together, but both survived and married in 1947. The couple divorced in 1953 and Odette became Mrs Geoffrey Hallowes in 1956.

Odette Hallowes died on 13 March 1995 at her Walton-on-Thames home aged 82.

Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo

During World War II, Violette Szabo lived, together with her parents and daughter in Burnley Road, Stockwell, London SW9. She was an Ensign in the Women's Transport Service (FANY).

Violette Szabo volunteered for a particularly dangerous mission in France during April 1944, when she acted as a courier to a Frenchman who had survived the break-up of his circuit based on Rouen and was trying to reconstitute a group in this strategically important area. She had to travel from Paris to Rouen, contacting certain people believed to have remained unmolested and report back to her chief in Paris. She accomplished this dangerous task successfully and after about 6 weeks returned to England.

On D-Day plus one, 7 June 1944, she was dropped into France again.

Soon after her parachute landing, Szabo and her French guide were ambushed by a German patrol and wounded. Szabo insisted that her guide should escape while he could, and she herself was captured and taken first to Limoges and then to Paris. After brutal interrogations over several weeks when she divulged nothing, she was put on a train for Germany. On the journey while an air raid was in progress and the guards ran for shelter, she managed, despite being chained by the ankle to another prisoner, to carry a bottle of water to badly wounded British officers in a cattle truck. Unknown to each other, this group of officers included Yeo-Thomas.

Imprisonment at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp followed and then two spells in labour camps, working under impossible conditions.

Between 25 January and 5 February 1945, Violette Szabo was returned to Ravensbrück and shot together with two other agents: Lilian Rolfe and Danielle Block. The execution scene was later described in an April 1946 interrogation of one of the German onlookers, the second-in-command at Ravensbrück.

Violette Szabo's award of the George Cross was published in the London Gazette on 17 December 1946:

Madame Szabo volunteered to undertake a particularly dangerous mission in France. She was parachuted into France inApril, 1944, and undertook the taskwith enthusiasm. In her execution of the delicate researches entailed she showedgreat presence of mind and astuteness. Shewas twice arrested by the German security authorities but each time managed to get away. Eventually, however, with other members of her group, she was surroundedby the Gestapo in a house in the south west of France. Resistance appeared hopeless but Madame Szabo, seizing a Sten-gun and asmuch ammunition as she could carry, barricaded herself in part of the house and, exchanging shot for shot with the enemy,killed or wounded several of them. By constantmovement, she avoided being corneredand fought until she dropped exhausted. Shewas arrested and had to undergo solitaryconfinement. She was then continuously andatrociously tortured. But never by word ordeed gave away any of her acquaintances or told the enemy anything of any value. She was ultimately executed. Madame Szabogave a magnificent example of courage and steadfastness.

Violette Szabo was also awarded the Croix de Guerre (France). Her husband, Lieutenant Etienne Szabo (Free French Forces), was killed in action at El Alamein on 24 October 1942.

Violette Szabo is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial on Panel 23, Column 3.

In 1981 a Blue Plaque commemorating Violette's life was unveiled at the house in Stockwell (London), that had been occupied by Violette Szabo, her parents and daughter.

Wing Commander Yeo Thomas

Click here to read the details of Wing Commander Yeo Thomas' George Cross.